the art professor

On Monday I went to a panel where a couple artists talked about the role of narrative and storytelling in art, theirs specifically.  The topic isn't something that I'm particularly interested in, since my work isn't really narrative in nature, but one of the speakers was my former printmaking professor who I hadn't seen since 2010, so I was really excited that he was going to be in town.  Sitting there listening to my old professor talk made me miss school tremendously, and more so, making art.  I'm creative on a daily basis, but I'm rarely making something I would consider "art."  Something without practical functionality.  Not a website design, not a photograph for a client, not a DIY project for the home.  All of those satisfy the creative urge in me, but I'm realizing that it's not quite enough to just create something.  There's something about creating a piece of art that is different than creating something beautifully functional.  
I invited my professor out for drinks afterward and it was so nice to sit around a dimly lit table with booze in hand, catching up.  There are a few teachers that really left an impression on me.  Mrs. Heetderks, my 6th grade teacher who encouraged me to write more.  Mrs. Congdon, my high school english teacher who is simply one of the best teachers out there.  And Scott.  One of the few teachers who was immune to my bullshitting or half assing.  If I scabbed together a paper or painting the night before, he knew it and would call me out on it.  He pushed me to create work that was thought through, meaningful, and carefully constructed.  Since I was someone who could easily and quickly throw something together that would get a decent, if not excellent, grade in any other class, it was nice (and a bit unsettling) to have a teacher who graded me against what he knew I was capable of.

 


dress/courtesy of modcloth :: belt + claw necklace/thrifted turquoise necklace/courtesy of jewelmint :: hat (similar)/courtesy of lulu's  quartz necklace / courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis
One of my 26 before 27 goals was to create new art and submit it to a gallery for exhibition.  I haven't even started this one, so I doubt it's going to happen this time around, though I definitely would like to roll-over that goal to my 27 before 28 list.  I think something that has been holding me back is that I  don't feel like my old way of creating is "me" any more.  Since I haven't created in so long, my style has shifted, but to where?  I'm not sure yet.  I would like to start creating to sort of figure out where exactly I am, in terms of what I want my work to look like and what I want it to be about.  I'm definitely not the same person I was when I was creating consistently in college.  I don't have the same interests or feel passionate about the same things.  I'm not even sure what mediums I'd want to create with.  But it's kind of exciting, the not knowing.  Perhaps I'll try to start small.  I love creating really huge pieces, but that's another thing that holds me back.  Size is prohibitive, in terms of having the space to create when you like working big.  But since I prefer big, it could be a nice challenge to force myself to work small.  God knows I can fit any more big pieces on my walls.  Two of my biggest pieces are still sitting on the floor in our bedroom, with no wall available where they could hang.  Truth be told, as much as I love my giant Winnebago art, I've had it hung in every place I've lived since junior year of college, so I'm a bit "over" it.  I'm ready for something new.  Something fresh.  Something that is where I am now, not where I was three years ago.  I'm not sure what that will look like but I want to find out.

the simple life

Two years ago I was putting on a white dress, strapping a veil to my head, taking a deep breath and walking down an aisle towards a man I was choosing to walk alongside for the rest of my life.  It's only been two years of "the rest of my life" but I couldn't have asked for a better start.  We spent the last two days exploring our city with the eyes of a tourist, visiting museums, the zoo, restaurants, and more.  It was fun staying home, but experiencing it from a new perspective.  
Today we're chilling out at home.  I'm sipping on a hot cup of coffee while Dan concocts some sort of breakfast smorgasboard and a tiny corgi meanders around the kitchen, trying to find dropped crumbs to vacuum up.  Maybe we'll go climbing later, pick up some new Magic cards to play with, or stop by the store for some ingredients for a fancy-ish dinner.  But it doesn't really matter what we do, because we could be doing anything, and I would be happy that the person doing it next to me is Dan.  

photos by arrow & apple

tis the season!

One of my favorite things about the holidays is all the excuses to wear fun party dresses! Holiday parties are like the homecoming dances of adulthood, except now it's totally legal to spike the punch.   For those of you looking for a holiday dress to look smashing in this holiday season, whether you're impressing your to-be mother-in-law at Thanksgiving, or wanting to look like a bombshell at your new years eve party, you're in luck!  ModCloth has a party dress sale going on today through Wednesday!  Get 20% off any dress in ModCloth's party dress category!  I can never decide what kind of look I want to go with when it comes to getting fancy, so I chose a few of my favorite dresses in different styles.  What's your favorite holiday dress style? Stick with the tried and true holiday hues?  Glimmer in gold and silver?  Or do you like getting a little dark and dramatic with your holiday frocks?   Of this group, I think my absolute favorite is #4!   I'm not usually a gold dress kind of girl, but that one is just all kinds of amazing.
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make your day diy

My friend and PNW buddy, Chelsey, has an exciting thing happening tomorrow!  She partnered up with Chelsea Costa from Lovely Indeed to create a fun DIY e-book and it's launching on Monday! Make Your Day is full of tons of super quick and easy DIY projects that you can create at any time of day.  Head to either one of their blogs (here or here) to enter to win a copy of Make Your Day before their giveaways close at 5pm PST today, or you can wait till tomorrow to purchase your own copy, and get 20% off by using the code MYDAYISMADE20.  The best part of Make Your Day is that it not only has instructions on the DIY projects, but they have tons of printables and resources for you to make it as easy as possible to do the projects. Today I'm sharing a really fast DIY project based on one of the projects in the book (Face Planters, seen below).  I made a zig zag pattern around the top instead!

What You'll Need:

Small terra cotta pot 

White acrylic craft paint

Martha Stewart Opaque Glass Paint 

Pen or pencil

1. Paint your pot white and let dry.

2. Use your pen or pencil to sketch out the zig zag pattern around the top edge of the pot.

3. Let air dry for 30 minutes.  If you'd like to make the paint waterproof and permanent, you'll need to bake it.  Place the pot in a cool oven and heat to 350ºF, then bake for 30 minutes.  

4. Let the pot cool in the oven before removing it.  Let it sit for 72 hours before using, to be safe.  Now you're ready to plant little pretty things in it!

 

diy chalk bag

So, this DIY probably won't appeal to most of you, but I wanted to share this project for my climbing readers out there!  Back when we first started climbing we were renting gear, but as we realized that we were wanting to start climbing consistently, renting all the time didn't make financial sense.  We invested in our own climbing shoes, but chalk bags seemed like an easy DIY, especially since they range from $15- $35... and I'm cheap.  I went to Joanne's Fabric, got everything I needed to make one for Dan and one for me and then I whipped one up.  And then I didn't make the second one until last Thursday. Since the first one was made without thinking about doing a DIY post I didn't have any photos or anything, but this time I made sure to grab some images while I was working.  

This DIY does require a sewing machine, but it's pretty simple sewing.  You'll need:

Fabric for the exterior (I used leftover canvas from some of Dan's old pants for his bag and the sturdier fabric stands up better than my regular fabric, but my bag has lasted 2 years just fine, so any fabric should do.  You probably don't want fabric that is

too

thick, though, because it might get hard to sew.)

Fabric for the interior.  I used polar fleece.

Thread

Cord, for the cinch (this is optional)

Large Eyelets, for the cinch (also, optional)

You can use a pre-made belt, or make your own with nylon tape and a snap

1. Cut a circle for the bottom of the bag lining.  Mine was about 5 inches in diameter.  Cut a rectangle for the sides of the lining.  Make sure it is a bit longer than the circumference of the circle you cut, and about 10 inches tall.

2. Fold over about 1.5-2 inches and sew two stitches to create a tunnel for the cinch cord.

3. Sew the bottom on to the sides to create a cylinder, making sure that the inside of the cylinder is the finished side (this is the side you'll see).

4. Repeat step 1, this time with the exterior fabric.

5. Sew the sides of your cylinder on to the bottom, like you did for the lining.  Make sure that your finished side has the right side of your fabric showing.  Turn the cylinder inside out.

6. If you're putting a cinch cord in, cut two small holes by the seam in both your lining (in the path you made for the cord) and your exterior, on either side of the seam.  Place your eyelets in the holes in the exterior.

7. Put the cord in the lining, through the path you sewed, and then put the lining inside the exterior, making sure they're both fit together tightly in the bottom.  Pull the cinch cords out of the eyelets in the exterior.  

8.  To make the loops for your belt to go through, cut two long rectangles and then fold the edges over and stitch the edges down to make them look finished and nice. The length depends on how wide your belt is, but make it a bit longer than you need, to allow for them to be sewed in.

9. Almost done! To finish everything up fold the top edge of the exterior fabric in between the lining and exterior and pin down.  Make sure to place your belt loops on either side of the vertical seam.  Sew the top seam and you're done!

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